Trolling spoon



Feb. 26, 1935. c, UE ER 1,992,766

TROLLINGI- SPOON Filed April 7, 1952 INVENTOR 0mm 56 I PF; 0505 ATTO RN EYS Patented Feb. 26, 1935 PATENT OFFICE TROLLING SPOON Charles T. Pflueger, Akron, Ohio, assignor to The Enterprise Manufacturing Company, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of 'Ohio Application April 7,1932, Serial No. 503,742

Claims.

The present invention relates to a new and improved fishing or trolling spoon, it being the object of the invention to devise and construct a new form of spoon which shall have a new sand distinctive action in the water and which will be more attractive to game fish and more effective in its operation than previously designed spoons. v

The form of spoon shown herein is the result and proportion of the parts have been carefully designed and have been determined by actual test and experience to give the peculiar results claimed for it. It isapparently impossible to give any logical or cogent reason for the action of the spoon, but the shape shown and described has been found to possess and have a certain law of action in the water which makes it extremely eflicacious.

The purpose of the invention is to design a spoon which will have a wabbling movement about its major, axis, combined with a. short, sharp oscillation about a center, which is the point of attachment for the line. It also has 25 the property that at a wide range of the ordinary or usual trolling speeds, the spoon will not rise from the water but will travel at an even depth and will not spin or turn over. The spoon, there fore, displays much greater activity than is pos sessed by other spoons.

The invention also has for its object a new and improved method of attaching or securing the hook in place so that it is firmly anchored and secured in the frame or body of the spoon.

These and other objects and advantages are secured by the new spoon construction as will be more specifically described and pointedout.

the drawing, in which the preferred form of construction is shown:

40 Figure 1 is a plan view looking at the on its upper surface;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof; and Figures 3 to 7 inclusive are sections on the respective section lines of Figure 2.

The spoon comprises a body indicated by the numeral 1 which is of thin sheet metal, usually nickel plated, and having an opening 2 at its spoon nose or forward end to which a line 3 is secured' by means of a link 4. A swivel may be substituted if desired, but the link shown seems to cooperate with the spoon to the best advantage. The nose or forward end portion of the spoon,

. and for a distance substantially one-third of its length, is formed as a substantially plane slightly dished surface 5 inclining upwardly and of considerable experimentation and the shape portion of the hook lies within and is supported forwardly with its concave side uppermost. The angular disposition of the said surface apparently contributes to the property possessed by the spoon of traveling at a definite and uniform level-below the surface of the water at any ordinary trolling speed. This substantially plane surfacealso prevents the spoon from turning over and assists in creating the wabbling movement.

From the rear of the inclined surface, the i0 sides of the spoon are more sharply curved or bent inwardly and upwardly in long swells 6 which increase in abruptness or degree until they reach a point substantially midway of the spoon and then decrease toward the rear of the spoon, which terminates in a rather sharply bent stern 8'. The swells contribute to the action of the spoon in conjunction with the substantially plane nose portion. The arrangement is such that the spoon body is longitudinally and transversely concave in varying degree thoughout its upper surface, the margin ofthe structure being entirely convex and merging gently from one region of the spoon to another.

To the inside surface of the spoon is secured the hook 10, the stem or shank of which lies in the bottom of the spoon between the'bases of the swells and the eye of which is attached to the spoon by the removable screw 12. The curved by the stem 8 of the spoon. A strap 14 may be placed over the shank of the hook and screwed into position on the spoon as at 15. If desired, a light flexible weed guard such as shown at 16 may be secured to the spoon body and extend toward the hook.

In use a piece of pork rind 18 may be placed over the hook and partaking of the wabbling vibratory movement of the spoon, will add conslderably to its attractiveness.

The spoon body has been carefully worked out and it is believed that the most effective form has been shown and described, and that any change or alteration, except of slight or unimportant character, will so modify the action of the spoon as to destroy its effectiveness.-

What is claimed is:

1 A trolling spoon comprising a metal spoon body having its forward end secured to a line and with an upwardly and forwardly inclined nose portion extending substantially one-third of the length of the spoon and two inwardly extending swells along the sides of the spoon, said swells being at a maximum at substantially the 55 midway point of the spoon and decreasing were:

beyond'to a rounded aft portion.

2. Atrolling spoon'comprising a sheet metal spoon body having its forward end secured to a line and provided with an upwardly andoforwardly inclined nose portion that has a concave upper surface for maintaining the spoon at a substantially uniform .depth below the surface in trolling, and inwardly swelled side portions extending from the said nose portion to an upwardly curved aft portion.

3. A trolling spoon having a metal spoon body with an upwardly and forwardly inclined nose portion on the forward end .of thespoon and a central channel in the intermediate portion of the spoon formed by two inwardly extending bowed formations on the central side portions of the spoon, said formations merging at the rear of the spoon which is curved upwardly.

4. A trolling spoon having a metal spoon body with an upwardly and forwardly inclined nose nooavee, a

portion on the forward end of the spoon and a central channel in the intermediate portion ofthe spoon formed by two inwardly extending bowed formations on thecentral side portions of the spoon, said formations merging at the rear of the spoon which is curved upwardly, and a hook having its shank lying in the channel and its bend in and -supported by the curved rear wall of the spoon.

5. A trolling spoon comprising a sheet metal spoon' body having its forward end securedto a line and provided with-an upwardly and forwardlyr inclined nose portion for maintaining the spoon at a. substantiallyuniform depth below the surface in trolling; inwardly swelled side portions extending from the nose portion to an upwardly curved aft portion, a hook lying in the bottom of the spoon and secured to the nose portion thereof, and a strap over the shank of the spoon and secured to the spoon body. e CHARLES T. PFLUEGER. 

